Is this really interval training (exercise bike program)

[janus77]

Howdy guys, not that i'm super worried about it, as this seems to work for me, but the literature i read all has interval training on shorter intervals.

The bikes at the gym at work have an interval program which is 1 minute - 1 minute. So it will be on hard for 1 minute, then 1 minute recovery. I basically push it so that by the end of the "hard" minute i'm about to blow out, then recover for 1 minute and hopefully my breathing and heart rate comes off enough to do it again. Also on the hard minute, i keep my cadence above 90rpm, whereas on the recover i usually average 80pm.

It works me really hard and i find my fitness increases pretty rapidly if i do 2 or 3 30 minute sessions a week.. gradually building up to 40 minute sessions.

Just posting this out of interest, is there a proven period for the difficult and recovery parts of interval training that are most effective?

Thanks

[TheSkyMovesSideways]

Most effective for what? Tabata intervals (20 seconds maximal work, 10 seconds rest, repeated 8 times for a total of 4 minutes) have been proven to be extremely effective in increase VO2Max and anaerobic capacity. However VO2Max and anaerobic capacity don't affect your sustainable power output, so they'll only help you sprint, they won't help you hang on to a peloton or perform in a time trial.

[janus77]

rapid improvement in fitness, strength, explosive power and long distance performance?

[TheSkyMovesSideways]

rapid improvement in fitness, strength, explosive power and long distance performance?

Fitness isn't specific - the other 3 are all types of fitness. Strength is best worked through weight training with low reps and explosive power is best worked through Olympic weightlifting type movements such as the power clean. Neither strength nor explosive power are particularly relevant to cycling, with the possible exception of getting up to speed in track cycling.

Long distance performance, I would expect, would be best improved by regularly riding long distances.

[DanielS]

How many 1-min intervals are you doing? I take it the 30-min session includes a warmup and cooldown period too?

[sogood]

High end performance are easy come and easy go. One may feel that improved fitness quickly with those short intervals, but once you stop or reduce the volume, it'll also fall away quickly. In any case, peak performance can't be held for too long, hence coaches and sports people talk about "peaking".